Swine Flu Vaccine: Will It Catch On?

Aug. 25, 2009 -- Less than half of health care workers surveyed in Hong Kong intend to get vaccinated against swine flu, citing uncertainty about its effectiveness and possible side effects, a new study indicates.

And another new study shows that health care workers and some people in the general public may refuse to get immunized or vaccinate their kids, fearing that risks of a novel vaccine could outweigh benefits.

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Researchers of both scientific studies say vaccination is critical, one of the most important ways to reduce illness and prevent death associated with pandemic flu complications.

The Hong Kong study is published by BMJ. The other study, based on analysis of 85 participants of focus group discussions in Canada, is published in Emerging Health Threats Journal.

Authors of the Hong Kong study describe their findings as surprising, given the fact that SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) had such a huge impact in Hong Kong, and note their information was gathered at the same time as the World Health Organization escalated its alert for swine flu to phase 5.

The SARS virus outbreak of 2003 infected more than 8,000 people worldwide and caused nearly 800 deaths.

Flu and Health Care Workers

Josette Chor, BSc, PhD of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and colleagues of the BMJ study say that campaigns are needed to encourage vaccination of health professionals. The researchers gathered survey data from 2,255 health care workers at 31 hospitals. They were first surveyed about willingness to get a pre-pandemic vaccine against avian flu (H5N1) when the WHO influenza pandemic alert level was at phase 3 in early 2009. In May when the level had been raised to 5, they were asked about willingness to get a vaccine against the new H1N1 swine flu.

In the first survey, 28% of respondents said they’d be willing to get vaccinated for pandemic flu. The authors say “no significant changes in the level of intention to accept pre-pandemic H5N1 vaccine were observed,” despite the escalation to phase 5 of the swine flu pandemic.

About 48% of respondents said they’d take the shots against swine flu at phase 5, but many still said they worried about side effects of vaccines and efficacy.

“To our knowledge, this is the largest study conducted to assess the willingness of healthcare workers to accept pre-pandemic influenza vaccination, and it provides important information on barriers to vaccination,” the authors write.